CARY, NC – The Winston-Salem State Rams used a combination of dominant pitching and hot bats, as the Rams rolled to a 16-0 win over the St. Augustine's Falcons on Friday at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.

With the win, the Rams move to 29-19 overall, and advance to their sixth consecutive CIAA Baseball Championship game. The Falcons fall to 13-32 overall.

The Rams wasted no time on setting the tone, as an Ivan Acuna single in the first inning drove home Jason Baytop to give WSSU an early 1-0 lead.

WSSU's Justin Norton worked out of a jam in the second, when he skirted out of a bases loaded jam without the Falcons scoring a run.

Winston-Salem State added two more runs in the second, when Orlando Cannon drove in Landon Steiner, and Michael McNamara scored on a throwing error by the St. Aug. catcher.

In the fourth, WSSU continued to pound the Falcons pitching, as they would add two more runs to extend their lead to 5-0. Willie McRae tripled home Randy Norris and Orlando Cannon.

Nathan Steger added a two-run home run in the fifth, and Michael McNamara drove in Randy Norris  on a sacrifice fly to center field.

The Rams kept pounding on the Falcons in the sixth as Jason Baytop would score on an Emilio Abreu double, after tripling to get in scoring position. Ivan Acuna would double to left field, allowing Abreu to come home. Landon Steiner would double, driving home Ivan Acuna and Nathan Steger to give WSSU a 12-0 lead.

WSSU added two in the seventh, on a Jason Baytop two-run home run, and added two more runs in the eighth, on a Michael McNamara two-run double, scoring Landon Steiner and Randy Norris, givng WSSU an overwhelming 16-0 lead.

Justin Norton was dominant on the mound for WSSU in picking up the win, pitching a complete game shutout, while allowing just four hits. Norton gave up two walks and struck out ten St. Augustine's batters over the nine innings.

WSSU was just as dominant on offense, as every Ram who had a turn at the plate, had at least one hit. Michael McNamara went 2 for 4 with a run scored and three runs batted in. Ivan Acuna and Randy Norris each went 3 for 5, with Acuna scoring two runs and driving in two, while Norris scored three runs. Jason Baytop finished 2 for 5 with three runs scored and two runs batted in, including a home run and Willie McRae went 2 for 5 with a run scored and two runs batted in. Nathan Steger had a big two run home run, as he went 1 for 4 with two runs scored and two runs batted in. Landon Steiner went 2 for 4 with two runs scored and two runs batted in, while Emilio Abreu finished 2 for 5 with a run scored and a run batted in. Orlando Cannon finished 2 for 5 with a run scored and a run batted in.

Winston-Salem State will face the Chowan University Hawks at 11:00am in the CIAA Championship game on Saturday. The Rams and Hawks split a four game series during the season, but the Rams hold the advantage of being undefeated in the CIAA Tourney, and would have to lose twice on Saturday to be dethroned as CIAA Champions for the sixth consecutive year.

The CIAA Championship game will be played in Thomas Brooks Park, the stadium park at the USA Baseball National Training Complex. Admission to the game is $5.00 (cash only). You can also tune into the game via the WSSU Rams Sports Network, with the voice of the Rams, Ken Winfrey on the call at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/wssu-rams-sports-network.